I just read in one of the postings that a dry/sore throat and a cough for ****s sake are two more symptoms of ALS. So now every time I get one of these I have to add it to my list of 'oh ohs?' I'm semi-joking here but does anyone want to comment on this 'symptom'?

I've done that. I started having a sore throat and then I started snoring, and got all paranoid. Sore throats, snoring and all the other things that go along with ALS are not what you would call symptoms of ALS. But rather, they are a by-product of the disease and certainly neither is even high on that list. It only makes sense that when you throat muscles get so fatigued you cannot swallow correctly and breath properly you are going to feel some weird things. But these by-product symptoms are NOT going to come first. Anyway, long story short, if you do not have slurred speech (try singing deck the halls with L-L-L-L at a good pace - if you can then you do not have slurred speech), trouble swallowing, and it will be noticeable to others, then certainly a sore throat has NO connection to ALS. However, nearly everyone has a few sore throats every year.

I've had a sore throat from time to time. It always freaked me out.
I even had a couple of weeks in august when I thought that I was slurring my speach. It felt really weird to talk. My wife insisted that was'nt slurring my words. I was so scared I went to the Dr. right away. He had to hold back a laugh when I told him that I was sluring my words. Later that week I went to a store and saw a woman who had just had a stroke. She was sluring her words...big time. I chilled out, my anxiety went away and so did the sensation of speech slurring.

Last year just after my twitching started, I was certain my speech was slurring too. I went to the websites, and was convinced I had ALs. I was literally making myself sick with worry. Once I got a grip, I realized that my anxiety and worry caused me to believe I was slurring my speech. I have found the less I think about it, the less bfs is there. The less power I give it, the smaller it becomes. I am hoping one day I will be able to completely talk myself out of having these symptoms, since it seems like I have talked myself (or worried myself) into them.